St Bonifacius, Minn. - The Polars pick up their first win of the early season 30-20 in a non-conference game against the University of Minnesota Morris. The Polars will play the Cougars again later in the season in a game that will count as a conference game.
The Polars scored early on a field goal on their first possession, which was set up by a 63-yard run on the first play of the drive by
Donovan Soloman. 3-0 is where the score would stay the rest of the first quarter as well as most of the second quarter. Late in the second quarter, Linebacker
Luke Johnson intercepted a pass and returned it to the Cougars 27 yardline with 2:13 to play. The Polars would turn the turnover into points after
Jamarrius Courtney threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to
Christian Lloyd, giving the Polars a 10-0 lead heading to halftime.
The scoring picked up significantly in the second half, with the Cougars getting a three and out to start the half followed by a touchdown to cut the lead to 7-10. The Polars responded with a touchdown of their own on the very next drive on a 58-yard rush by
Jamarrius Courtney. Crown took a 17-6 lead entering the fourth quarter, which started with another Cougars touchdown. It took one play on offense for the Polars to respond, when Courtney broke loose on a 70-yard touchdown run to bring the Polars lead back to where the half started at ten points (24-14). For the third straight drive between the two teams a touchdown was scored, as the Cougars responded with a quick drive of their own, making the score 20-24. The next three drives would end in punts but a late touchdown by way of the legs of
Jamarrius Courtney, gave the Polars a 30-20 lead with under a minute left to play.
Rudy Criner came up with an interception on the next drive with under 30 seconds to play, closing the game out at 30-20 in favor of the Polars.
Two school records were also broken in Saturday's game. Quarterback
Jamarrius Courtney set the single game rushing record with 235 total yards. Courtney was directly involved in all four Polars touchdowns, rushing for three and throwing for one.
Rudy Criner was the other record breaker, breaking the Polars career tackles record. He had eight on the day, and added an interception to his stat line as well. Other notable stat lines from Saturday's game include
Donovan Soloman with 109 yards on 9 carries, and
Jakalyn Roy with 11 tackles and a sack.
Keivon Davis and
Geovonni Pena also recorded sacks, and
Luke Johnson had an interception.
The Polars return to action on October 4 for their homecoming game against the University of Northwestern at 7:15pm to cap a full day of Polars sports.
